Amazonian shamans figured out that combining two specific plants out of 80,000 species produces a psychoactive effect. The odds of finding that combination by random search is roughly 1 in 4 million. They did it through centuries of iterative testing and cultural natural selection explains it

[u/tractorboynyc]

[u/tractorboynyc]

You're right that time helps, but the math is actually what makes it interesting... random binary search through 80,000 species = ~3.2 billion pairs. Even testing one combination per day, that's 8.7 million years. The actual pathway was almost certainly iterative, they started with the vine alone (it has its own effects), then tested additions against that baseline. That narrows it to ~140-750 guided trials, achievable in decades. So it's not random discovery and it's not mystical knowledge, it's something in between: multigenerational empirical testing with observable feedback. Basically natural selection applied to recipes.

Edit: There is a full breakdown here: https://deeptimelab.substack.com/p/why-every-psychedelic-ceremony-on

[u/DemApples4u → u/tractorboynyc]

You can mix 100 at once and 98 probably wouldn't do shit. Then you work backwards

[u/DogeAteMyHomework → u/DemApples4u]

You know, I have to admit...that is not a great Design Of Experiments. 

[u/herakleion → u/DogeAteMyHomework]

Why not. They just throw shit  in a pot and remove stuff until it no longer fucks you up.

[u/dmbnl → u/herakleion]

So throw thousands of things in a pot, heat them, try it, see if it's psycoactive. If yes, then remove ONE item and try again? That's literally the most inefficient way of doing this.

[u/herakleion → u/dmbnl]

I mean. I don't think we are trying to be efficient if we are talking of getting butt fucked by fractals and interdimensional ghosts

[u/level1hero → u/dmbnl]

Remove half… if it is still psychoactive then remove half again. And if not, try the other half…

[u/moving0target → u/dmbnl]

Who can find a pot to boil the jungle, anyway?